Guthrie cont'd

Down the street from the Masonic Temple  

Guthrie calls itself a Victorian town.  The whole originally was built mostly of red brick with very ornate decorations.  Most date from the late 1800's.

We stopped here to visit the shop at the lower left--the Oklahoma Frontier Drugstore Museum.

The museum features an extensive collection of artifacts and memorabilia associated with frontier pharmacies, early drugstores and medical arts.  There was almost too much to see.

I found a couple of  offbeat items.  I actually opened the jar and sniffed.  Smelled like garlic.

Looks painful

Soda fountain to take your mind off the above.

Tiles to decorate your fireplace.  (I first encountered these in Dicken's A Christmas Carol.)

Razor blades and (below them) razors.

Cigar collection complete with wooden Indian.

Down the street and around the corner is the post office.  It was built where this used to be.

Behind post office--sign above is on the other side of the tree.

It looked like this in 1889.

Lunch at this little place.  It advertised a burger special and breakfast served all day.  A win-win.

We are seated just inside the window in front of Duane.  Those girls (another is seated next to the one in blue) caught my eye.  They carried on a very animated conversation throughout their whole meal.  Phones were on the table, but I only saw one look at hers for about 3 seconds.  The rest of the time they just talked to each other!  Amazing!

Fortifications enables us to carry on to our next stop.  The sculpture in front depicts a western man and a Native woman getting married.  They symbolize the union of the Natives living on reservation lands and white settlers uniting under one government to make Oklahoma a state.

The focus of the Territorial Museum was to showcase how Oklahoma started as reservation lands to a state.  After Oklahoma was acquired in the Louisiana Purchase, it was eventually designated as tribal land for the 5 Civilized Tribes.  Over time it became the designated reservation for all native peoples being run out of the rest of the country.  When the Natives failed to unite under one civilized government (each tribe wanted to remain autonomous), Oklahoma's politicians declined to let any other tribes to be relocated.  This left an area in the middle of the state called the Unsettled Lands.  This is the area that the government opened for the land rush.  Most people didn't have far to travel and were able to bring many luxuries that most western pioneers would have to leave behind.  The artifacts in this area were all carried by "rushers".   Settlers hoping to claim land would have included farmers, land speculators who hoped to start towns, and people who wanted to start small businesses.

An entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica may have been brought by someone who wanted to start a school.

I couldn't decide whether these blouses belonged to a small woman or a girl.

This flag was made for the new state of Oklahoma.  The star on the lower right is inscribed with the date of the admission of the 48th state--July 4, 1908.  The actual date is Dec. 1907, but all states are officially recognized on on the next July 4th.

a not for the blacksmiths

An actual pioneer house.  A single man lived in this one-room house on his claim.

Most people think of saloons of evil places.  Saloons were actually working man fraternal clubs.

A reminder of the Victorian influence on American people.

Area law enforcement.  

and their badges and knives.  Marshalls usually wore either the crescent star or the more familiar circle star.

Guthrie became the State Capitol but lost the privilege three years later to Oklahoma City.  Guthriens are still peeved about that.

Adjacent and connected to the Territorial Museum is

Governor Haskell being sworn in as the first State governor on the steps of the library.

We visited the top floor of the library by accessing it from the top floor of the Museum. 

Rotunda with librarian's desk.  Four rooms branch off from this area.

They were identical in shape and style.  Most of the bookcases are gone.  The books were removed to the new library.

Another reminder of the Victorian Age.  Victorian ladies invented the crazy quilt.

Recognize these?  It took me a minute but I got there eventually.  They are on the ground floor of the Museum.

Today we had other adventures.  You will have to wait to hear about them.

Louise and Duane

P.S.  I almost forgot Limerick Day.  Here is mine;

There was a young lady named Kitty

Whose girth was the size of a city

She did nothing but hum

And chewed nothing but gum

Soon Kitty was just little bitty.

Yes, I really did make that up.